Howdy!

A/N: Well, what can I say?

Not much really... I mean... I guess I'll just thank you guys like I usually do and go to the disclaimer.

Dislaimer: Just the other day, this old lady came up to me and said: "Aren't you that guy that wrote that show with that girl and all those cards in it?" I gently smiled to her and said. "No. That's CLAMP. They wrote CCS and they own it! So get out of here you old hag before I call the cops and have you arrested for slander. Come on, move along!" And then, as she ran away from me, I took out my trusty gun and shot her leg with a rubber bullet so she'd remember that day and never say anything so stupid again. GET IT?

There you go. And now...

Thing to know:

Being on 'Duty' (Reminds me of a certain Chandler Bing): On Japanese schools, students have to take turns in helping with basic chores like cleaning up the classroom before classes. (Which means they have to get to school early.) That's why, on CCS, sometimes Sakura meets with someone in school before everyone else arrives. If you paid attention you would have noticed that they're always cleaning up the classroom while they talk.

And now...

The Plot Thickens: It had become quite clear to Sakura that she and her friends weren't the only people in Tomoeda who knew about the Clow cards. Not only had they been receiving mysterious phone calls pinpointing the location of many cards, but Syaoran had recently found out that he was under the influence of a spell which he suspected was causing him to behave in a weird manner around Sakura and Yukito. He decided to keep that a secret, known only to him and Kero. He even omitted it in the letters he wrote to his family. However, Sakura had noticed Syaoran's weird behavior and, when having a premonition dream similar to the one she had shortly before meeting the boy, was reminded once again that his aura was different from the one she saw in the dream. When Syaoran missed school because of a high fever, she was convinced by Tomoyo to talk to him about Yukito, because they believed that was the cause of his strange behavior around Sakura. However, Syaoran rudely told her to go away.

And now...

"Character Talking"

ºCharacter Thinkingº

(Me Talking)

And Now...

All the life on the planet is based on a magical energy called 'Mana'. The Sun and the Moon provide this mana to every corner of the planet. Those who learned to manipulate the mana are the said magicians. A long time ago, Clow Reed mastered the use of both Sun and Moon mana and created his masterpiece in the use of these types of magic, the Clow Cards. Half of them used the mana from the sun and half from the Moon. Now, after accidentally setting those cards on the loose, Kinomoto Sakura must help Li Syaoran, a descendant of Clow, and Kerberos, the guardian of the cards, to capture the cards which, not having Clow to provide them mana anymore, are going on a rampage after the magical energy they need to live.

Card Captor Sakura

Chapter 5: Sakura and the Possession

Part 2: Just Another Day

July 2nd, Monday. One month after the capture of The Sword and The Shield.

Sakura slept peacefully on her bed. Not a care in the world.

Touya opened the door to the room and looked at the surroundings. He noticed Kero in another pathetic attempt to look lifeless, and the alarm clock that had ringed loudly fifteen minutes ago.

"It's the third time already." He sighed deeply. "This can get really boring." He mumbled to himself.

He watched Kero's efforts to look like a doll for awhile to amuse himself. ºIt probably won't matter if I'm late for school anyway.º He thought.

When he finally got tired of staring at Kero he decided to try and wake Sakura up.

"Sakura, wake up." He said gently, but there was no response. "Why do I even try?" He muttered under his breath. Taking a big load of air, he shouted at the top of his lungs.

"WAKE UP!"

"Ouch!"

Sakura fell out of her bed at the shout, with her face flat on the floor. "It's worse than I thought." Touya grumbled. "I just don't understand why you don't ever wake up unless I shout out something." He complained.

Sakura clenched her fist, still lying on the floor. "I have an alarm clock for that!" She said, pushing her face away from the little, round carpet with her open hand.

Touya pointed at her clock. "It ringed fifteen minutes ago." And with that he left the room, closing the door behind him.

Sakura looked at her alarm clock. She gasped when she saw that Touya was in fact telling the truth.

"Hoe! That means I'm going to be late again." She jumped out of the floor and ran towards her dresser. "I have to hurry!" She started to prepare herself at an amazing speed.

Kero, who was acting as a doll until now, flew towards Sakura. "How come you didn't wake up with that loud alarm clock?" He asked very annoyed. "You bought it just because your old one wasn't waking you up, but even so it's still not enough." He said dodging the pajamas that Sakura was throwing off.

"You mean you woke up?" Sakura asked annoyed.

"Of course I did!" The guardian answered blatantly.

Sakura frowned at him. "Then why didn't you wake me up?"

"I tried to, but it was a waste of time."

ººººFLASHBACKºººº

Kero was sleeping inside a large drawer in Sakura's desk. His sleep was interrupted however with loud ringing of Sakura's new alarm clock. He jumped up startled and his head hit the drawer above him. "Ouch!" He cried in pain but then closed his mouth instantly. After slowly opening the drawer to make sure nobody had come to check on his yelp, he made his way to a still sleeping Sakura.

"Sakura, wake up." He said poking her cheek. But got no response. "Sakura. Wake up, you're gonna be late for school." He slapped her face a bit, but there was still no response. "Wake up!" He tried to pull her eyelid open. Sakura mumbled something that he couldn't understand and punched him, sending the little creature to the other side of the room.

ºººº END OF FLASHBACKºººº

As Kero told his story Sakura seemed to be entering some sort of trance. She was staring at Kero as if he was saying something that didn't make any sense. Each word that Kero said made a weird feeling creep up in her mind.

Kero kept talking. "...and after you..."

"After I punched you for the third time you gave up." She said as if that was the answer to a hard puzzle she had just solved. "That's when oniichan came in."

Kero stared at her in disbelief. "You were awake!" He shouted.

"Shhh!" Sakura put her finger to her mouth in a silencing motion. "Don't speak so loud!" She said in whispers. "I was still sleeping. I just kinda had the feeling you'd say that. Like a déjà vu."

"Déjà vus don't see the future." Kero said suspiciously.

"Lucky guess then." She said. "I have to go now Kero-chan. See ya."

Meanwhile, at Syaoran's apartment.

Wei walked into Syaoran's room slowly. "Syaoran-sama, wake up." He called out. "You're going to be late for school." Syaoran didn't answer. "Syaoran-sama?" Wei walked up to the boy's bed and was met with a terrifying scene.

Syaoran was pale. His eyes were looking in no particular direction, his breathing was slow and faint and he was sweating like a pig.

"Syaoran-sama!" Wei rushed to the boy's side. After a brief moment of panic he gathered himself examining Syaoran's face and running as fast as he could to the phone on the hallway after being sure that he wasn't mistaken. He quickly dialed the emergency number. "Hello." He said, relatively calm. "I need an ambulance."

Syaoran could hear a voice talking to him, but he couldn't make out exactly what it was trying to say. He couldn't see a thing besides a white blur, and he felt extremely cold. ºWhat's going on with me?º He though. ºHas my fever gotten worse?º

Wei dialed another number. "Li-sama. It's Syaoran-sama. He is very sick." Syaoran felt his senses slowly returning to him, he could now understand Wei's words coming from the hallway. "He was in perfectly good health just yesterday. I don't know what could've happened."

ºPerfectly good health?º Syaoran thought. ºI had a terrible fever yesterday!º

He managed, with some effort, to sit up. "Wei-san." He called out as loudly as he could, which wasn't much.

Wei entered the room. "Syaoran-sama, you're awake."

"I'm fine." Syaoran said stubbornly. "There's no need to get a doctor or anything."

"But, Syaoran-sama, you're still pale. I think you should rest." Wei said.

"I can't skip two day's at school in a row just because of a little fever. It's bad enough that I didn't do the homework Kinomoto-san brought me." Syaoran said, shifting his position so his feet would touch the floor.

Wei looked at him with a confused face before speaking. "Syaoran-sama... what exactly do you mean?"

"What do you mean 'What do I mean'?" Syaoran asked confused by Wei's confusion.

Wei hesitated a bit before speaking. "Syaoran-sama... Kinomoto-san hasn't been in this place for nearly a month now I believe. And it's been just as long since you last skipped school."

"What?" Syaoran was feeling even more confused now. Had he imagined all that? Wei did say that his health was just fine yesterday. Maybe he was confused because of the fever.

That's when it hit him.

All the pieces fitted. The letter he'd written the day before yesterday to his family had disappeared. Wei had forgotten all about the past day's events. Even his mysterious fever fit in.

"Wei-san, what day is it?" He asked abruptly.

Wei didn't change his expression at the question. It was still an expression of pure confusion. "It's... It's Monday Syaoran-sama."

Syaoran smirked. "I got it!" He said, jumping out of his bed.

Unfortunately, he found out that jumping out of his bed was much more effort than his weakened body could handle. After seeing the room spin around him, he fell on the floor. Unconsciousness settled in.

Later that morning, at Tomoeda Elementary.

Sakura sighed in relief as she entered the classroom. She had arrived just in time.

"Hi, Tomoyo-chan." She greeted her best friend before taking her seat and a deep breath to calm her body down from all the rush she'd been in.

"Sakura-chan, I finished editing the tape from The Freeze card!" Tomoyo said excited. "You have to see it. I think it was your coolest capture so far." She handed Sakura a VHS.

Sakura took the tape. "Hadn't you edited this already?" She asked.

"Of course not." Tomoyo said. "You captured it Saturday night. And we didn't even see each other yesterday."

Sakura nodded. "You're right. But I could swear that I showed this one to Kero-chan already."

Terada entered the classroom. "Good morning, everybody." He said.

"Good morning Terada-sensei." The children choir greeted back.

Sakura noticed a strange absence from the boyish voice behind her. "Hoe? Where's Li-kun?" She said looking at the empty desk where Syaoran usually sat. While looking back she had a feeling that the same scene had happened before. ºDéjà vu again.º She thought.

"I don't know." Tomoyo answered. "Do you think he found a Clow card?"

Sakura shook her head. "No. I think he's sick." She said.

"Kinomoto-san, Daidouji-san. Pay attention please!"

The tall and the short mysterious figures once again walked down a desert street of Tomoeda, this time with Touya beside them. They were both wearing cloaks that concealed their faces.

"Are you sure this isn't going to be the last time?" Touya asked. "I don't want to miss a whole day at school."

"Don't worry." The tall one said. "We believe there's going to be another day yet. But I'm still surprised you could notice it all so easily."

"Forge about that. And what about the brat? His aura is fading away fast." Touya said.

The short one chuckled. "Nice to know that you hold some compassion for him." He said. "I told you already, I want to push them to their limits. It won't do any good if I just save them at the slightest sight of danger."

"It's showing results." The Tall one complemented. "Between fighting back against your spell and fighting against the Clow cards, he is getting much more powerful. Sakura's control over her powers is getting much better too."

"Right." Touya said. "But if his life is on the line you'll intervene right?"

"Yes, he's in good hands."

Later, after classes had ended, Sakura and Tomoyo were standing at the school gates, and a limo was parked near the sidewalk.

"So Sakura-chan, are you going to visit Li-kun today? After your cheerleading practice I mean." Tomoyo asked.

Sakura blinked twice in some sort of awe. "Déjá vu!" She said.

"What?" Tomoyo asked confused.

"It's already the ninth or tenth déjà vu I've had today." She said. "It's starting to get creepy."

"Don't worry about that Sakura-chan." Tomoyo said smiling. "You still haven't answered my question."

"Oh..." Sakura sighed feeling defeated. "Fine, I'll go." She said. ºIt's a lost battle already.º She thought.

"Great! I'll see you tomorrow then Sakura-chan." Tomoyo said. She turned around and started walking away.

Sakura felt a hint of panic when she thought of visiting Syaoran. "Wait!" She said, reaching out for Tomoyo before she got inside her limo. "Would you mind going with me?" She asked.

Tomoyo looked at Sakura's eyes and noticed that she was somewhat scared. She smiled reassuringly at her friend and nodded. "I guess I get to watch your cheerleading practice while I wait for you then."

"Li's residence. May I help you?" Came the voice on the speaker.

"It's us, Kinomoto Sakura and Daidouji Tomoyo." Sakura said looking up to the little camera above the speaker and waving her hand.

"Ah, we were expecting you Kinomoto-san. Please come up." Wei said. A clicking sound was heard and Sakura was left staring at the speaker in confusion.

"Expecting me?" She asked confused to the mute speaker.

There was another clicking sound and the gatekeeper's voice was heard through the speaker. "Alright girls. Go right ahead." He said. Sakura and Tomoyo bowed to the man before walking down the path that led to the building.

"Do you think they knew we were coming?" Tomoyo asked Sakura as they entered the elevator.

Sakura was as confused as Tomoyo, but she couldn't help but thinking that Tomoyo was right. "I think so." She said.

After a ride up, the elevator doors opened. There, at the door that led inside Syaoran's apartment, was Wei, with a welcoming smile on his face. "Please come in, I have the tea ready."

The girls walked in and noticed that, in fact, there was a tray with two cups and a fancy tea kettle on it, resting on a coffee table between two couches. "Hoe? You really were expecting us." Sakura said in awe.

Wei nodded. "I'll explain in a moment. Right now, I'll get another cup for Daidouji-san." He said. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."

A few minutes later they were all drinking tea, but Syaoran was nowhere to be seen.

After taking a sip of his cup Wei took a deep breath and his warm smile faded a bit. "Kinomoto-san..." Sakura looked up from her cup. "Syaoran-sama is very sick."

Sakura almost said that she already knew that, but was stopped by the fact that she didn't actually know it. She was almost sure that she did though.

"Is he alright?" She asked instead.

"He's a bit better now, but I believe it won't be for long." He said. "He's resting back at his room and we shouldn't disturb him for now. It wouldn't do him any good."

"But what is happening then?" Tomoyo asked.

"This morning he woke up feeling ill, and soon fell unconscious again." Wei continued. "It was just an hour ago when he woke up again." He paused for a while, unintentionally creating a mood of suspense. "When he was finally able to talk again, he told me that he was possessed by a Clow card and that was what was making him so sick."

Sakura and Tomoyo gasped. "He is possessed?" Sakura asked instinctively, as if the answer to the question could suddenly change.

Wei nodded. "I'm afraid so." He said. "And it's one of the most powerful cards. The Time. This makes things much more complicated."

"How long has it been possessing him?" Tomoyo asked.

Wei sighed. "That's the complicated part. From our point of view it seems as if it started today, but what is really happening is that the card is using its powers to repeat the same day over and over again." He said. "Only the card and Syaoran-sama can retain their memories from the repeated day, so from their point of view, it's been three days already."

Sakura understood perfectly what Wei meant. "That explains all of my déjà vus. We've been living the same day over and over."

Wei nodded. "But there's no way of telling cause we can't remember a thing from the past day. The past repeat of the day that is."

"But Sakura-chan remembered." Tomoyo pointed out. "At least a few things. Like my tape."

Sakura nodded. "That's right."

"That's probably because of your magic powers." Wei said. "The Time's magic can't work its full effect on you."

They sat in silence for a minute then, finishing their cups of tea.

After taking his last sip, Sakura brought the subject back. "How can we help him then?"

"Syaoran-sama asked me to tell you to bring Kerberos here." Wei said. "He's the one with the most knowledge about the cards."

Sakura nodded. "I'll go get him right now." She put on a confident smile and stood up. "I'll be back before you know it."

"There's a problem about that though." Wei said.

Sakura lost her confident composure. "What?"

"If the card knows that we intend to capture it, it will just start the day over again." He said.

"Oh." Sakura felt defeated. If what Wei had just said was true, it would be impossible to lock the card. "But what can we do then? We can't leave Li-kun like that."

Wei served more tea to the cups. "There's one way." He said. "The magic of the Time is very powerful, and it's very unlikely that it can cast it twice in a row." He continued. "If you came here as soon as you woke up, the card would probably be helpless." He said.

"But I won't remember any of this when I wake up tomorrow... I mean... Today. Hoe... This is too confusing."

Wei sighed. "There isn't any other choice. Syaoran-sama is getting weaker each time that the day repeats itself."

Sakura felt despaired. She knew what would happen if Syaoran had all of his energy drained by the card. It would mean the end for him. After all, the card was like a mana parasite, sucking Syaoran's life force. Yet, it was impossible to capture the card without remembering it existed. Could Syaoran hang on another day? Could she really let the day start over and risk not being able to save Syaoran?

She relaxed a bit when she felt Tomoyo's hand on her shoulder.

Tomoyo was smiling at her. "You can remember Sakura-chan. You remembered a lot of things this time haven't you? That's why you had all those déjà vus." She said. Then she leaned forward and whispered something in Sakura's ears. "Plus, he's saved your life already. You owe him this don't you? I know you would never let a friend down."

Sakura smiled. Tomoyo made everything sound so much easier. She started to calm down. Maybe there would be another way around it. She just had to go to Kero and talk to him. Surely there would be some method for remembering all those things.

"Alright, I'll try my..." But she never finished that sentence.

Morning, Sakura's house.

Touya walked into his sister's room, knowing exactly what to expect. ºI can't believe it's already the fourth time.º He thought.

He sighed. "Oh well, no use trying to be gentle... WAKE UP!"

"Ouch!"

Sakura fell out of her bed, turning her body just in time to save herself from hitting the floor with her face.

"Your alarm clock ringed fifteen minutes ago, you're gonna be late. Again." Touya said very quickly before leaving the room.

"Hoe?" Sakura looked around herself. She had the feeling that she was forgetting something, when is a weird feeling to have as soon as you wake up.

Sakura looked at her alarm clock, gasping when she saw that Touya was in fact telling the truth.

"Hoe! That means I'm going to be late again." She jumped out of the floor and ran towards her dresser. "I have to hurry!" She started to prepare herself at an amazing speed.

Kero, who was acting like a doll until now, flew towards Sakura. "How come you didn't wake up with that loud alarm clock?" He asked very annoyed. "You bought it just because your old one wasn't waking you up, but even so it's still not enough." He said dodging the pajamas that Sakura was throwing off.

Sakura heard Kero's words, and then answered like an actor saying a line with no emotion at all. "You mean you woke up?" She asked, knowing exactly what the guardian was going to answer.

"Of course I did!" The guardian answered blatantly.

"Then why didn't you wake me up?" She asked, not really sounding annoyed.

"I tried to, but it was just a waste of time."

Upon hearing that Sakura felt a tingling sensation in the back of her head. "Time..."

Kero noticed Sakura's strange reaction. "What's the matter?"

Sakura shook her head. "It's nothing. Never mind. I just had a déjà vu."

"Oh... Anyway I was sleeping peacefully in my drawer, when..." Kero started to tell his story, but Sakura paid little attention. She somehow felt like she knew what he was going to say. Half of her knew she was hearing that for the first time, but it seemed as if some other part of her mind knew the whole story already.

ºWhy won't this déjà vu feeling go away?ºShe thought.

"And after I punched you for the third time... Are you listening to me?" The guardian inquired. He seemed insulted by Sakura's clearly absent mind.

"I'm sorry Kero-chan... It's just..." Sakura couldn't really find anything to say. Her mind was constantly bothering her about something.

Kero sighed. "Fine. I don't care. Go to school or you'll be late. Have you seen what time it is already?"

ºTime...º That word once again made Sakura feel particularly strange.

Suddenly it all came back to her. "Li-kun!" She shouted out of the blue.

"What?" Kero asked confused.

Sakura started to put on her uniform. "Kero-chan, we have to go to see Li-kun immediately!" She said.

Kero raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"Quick Kero-chan, there's no time to explain!" She shoved Kero inside her backpack and closed the zipper.

"Wait! What's going on?" Kero protested. His voice muffled.

Sakura put the backpack around her shoulders. "I'll explain it on the way." She said.

Syaoran's apartment, a while later.

Wei walked into Syaoran's room slowly. "Syaoran-sama, wake up." He called out. "You're going to be late for school." Syaoran didn't answer. "Syaoran-sama?" Wei walked up to the boy's bed and was met with a terrifying scene.

Syaoran was pale. His eyes were looking in no particular direction, his breathing was slow and faint and he was sweating like a pig.

"Syaoran-sama!" Wei rushed to the boy's side. After a brief moment of panic he gathered himself examining Syaoran's face and running as fast as he could to the phone on the hallway after being sure that he wasn't mistaken.

Before he could dial any number he heard the interphone ring.

"The interphone? Who could it be at such an early hour?" He walked to the device and pressed a button. On a tiny screen, the image of Sakura could be seen. "Li's residence. May I help you?"

"It's Kinomoto Sakura. Wei-san, I really need to see to Li-kun!" The girl said, not looking at the camera, but to the speaker instead. "It's urgent!"

"Kinomoto-san... I'm afraid you've chosen a bad time to visit. Syaoran-sama is very sick this morning." He said in a sad tone. "I'm really sorry, but I think it would be best if you returned latter."

"I know he's sick. That's why I came. It's a Clow card." Sakura answered with hurry. "Please, don't do anything until I'm there!"

Wei was surprised by those words, but he thought it would be wise to let the girl up and let her explain herself. If it was a Clow card, then there wasn't much a doctor could do.

"I see... Please come up then." He said, and then turned of the interphone.

A couple of minutes later he was letting Sakura into the apartment.

"Please, have a sit." He said, pointing to the couch. Sakura sat down and took a deep breath to calm her body down from all the rush she'd been in. "Do you know what's happened to Syaoran-sama then?" Wei asked impatiently. "I'm sorry for being so straightforward, but I've never seen him this bad before."

"It's okay." Sakura said. "But I think Kero-chan can explain it better than me."

She took her backpack and zipped it open. Kero flew out, not as cheerful as his usual self.

"Hey there." He said waving to Wei.

"Kerberos-san! What..." He was interrupted by Kero in the middle of his question.

"The brat's in serious trouble." He said. "There's no time to waste."

And so he explained to Wei the entire situation in a much summed up way.

Wei looked down for a moment, trying to think. "That's... amazing. We've been living the same day over and over and we can't even remember."

"The problem here is..." Kero continued. "Unlike The Sword and The Shield, The Time possesses the body directly instead of using an object. That means that the card's soul is actually inside his body."

"You mean..."

"That's right, we have only two choices." The guardian said. "Either the card comes out of its own free will or the brat manages to take it out with his own powers." He explained. "There's no other way to get the card out without harming him."

"But Li-kun is already too weak to fight back against the card." Sakura said. She knew what she was talking about cause Kero had already told her all that on the way to the Syaoran's place.

"So you need to talk to the card right?" Wei asked.

Kero nodded. "I think that's the only way to make it come out." He said.

Wei let out a thoughtful sigh. "Please, follow me." He said.

They all walked inside Syaoran's room.

Syaoran was still lying there, in the same condition. Sakura was shocked to see him in that state. The last time she had seen him, he had nothing but a fever, but now, if it weren't for his chest timidly moving up and down, one could easily mistake him for long gone.

"He must be suffering a lot." Kero said. "The card sucked too much mana out of him. If we had been just a few more hours late..."

"How is he going to get all his mana back?" Sakura asked, feeling herself get a little disturbed by the sight before her. The sweat already covered all of her hands much like it covered Syaoran's whole body. "I mean... Even if we capture the card, he's lost so much already."

"He'll just need a lot of rest." Kero answered. "The energy will come from the Sun and the Moon naturally."

Wei walked to Syaoran's side. "Hang in there Syaoran-sama, they'll get this card out of you." He said, but Syaoran didn't show any signs of hearing him.

Kero flew to his side too. "OK, let's see what we can do." He said, sitting on Syaoran's chest.

Sakura and Wei watched as Kero closed his eyes and focused. Sakura felt a faint aura coming from the guardian, which he had assured her in the past, would get much more powerful when she had caught all the sun cards.

Sakura felt a new aura emerging from within Syaoran's, almost as if it had been hiding behind the boy all the time. It was clearly the aura of a Clow card.

Kero's eyes snapped open. He jumped back, stopping in the air just beside Wei.

Syaoran slowly opened his eyes, but Sakura noticed that they had no life in them. Nothing but two white globes with dull brown irises. He sat up on the bed and started to speak with a voice that, though belonging to himself, had a tone that would instantly denounce to anyone that it wasn't him speaking actually.

"What do you..." He paused when he noticed Kero. "Kerberos?" He smirked. "I'm sorry. Your aura is so weak I couldn't even recognize you."

Kero smirked too. "Of course it is. With the cards spread all around the place, my powers are considerably shortened."

"I see." Syaoran answered. "That's why you want to get us back together so badly." He said, sounding disappointed. "Even knowing that we need a powerful master to survive."

"No, that's not it." Kero said. "This girl here..." He pointed to Sakura. "...is the girl who opened the seal or, according to Clow, your future mistress."

Syaoran couldn't hide his surprise. He looked at Sakura, and for the seconds their eyes met, she felt a chill run down her spine. That was definitely not Syaoran.

"I'm surprised." He said. "Such a young girl." He smiled gently at Sakura, surprising her. It was the kind of smile a grandfather gives to his grandson. "If had known earlier, this boy wouldn't have had to go through this. I'd have just taken you as my master." He said surprising everyone else in the room. "And here was I trying to drive you away. Please forgive me."

"It's... It's okay." Sakura hesitatingly answere. She wondered if the smile was fake. The card had been possessing Syaoran after all, but at that moment, all the coldness she had felt before looked like an illusion from the past. ºMaybe I imagined it.º She wondered.

Kero smiled. "Wow! That was very reasonable of you. Last time I had the chance to talk with one of you it nearly got me killed saying this." He said. "That means you'll join us?"

Syaoran nodded. "Please tell this boy I'm sorry. I waited a whole month without doing anything to anybody, but if I waited any longer I'd disappear." He said. "I intended to leave his body before anything too bad happened to him, but I feared for my existence too."

Sakura was stupefied. The card's personality wasn't anything like the cards they had captured so far. It was rational and wise.

Kero grinned. "We'll tell him for sure." He said cheerfully. "If only all the cards were as smart as you, they'd all come back."

Syaoran chuckled. "They're not dumb Kerberos. They're lost." He said. "The only thing that differs me from them is that I've got the personality and the mentality of an old man. But you can't expect a card like The Fly, with a bird's instincts, to think all of his actions through. We're not all human-like, and you now that."

Kero nodded. "I guess you're right. Leave it to Clow to make such and eccentric deck."

Syaoran smiled, amused by that comment. "He was an eccentric man after all." He said. Then he faced Sakura again. "Alright, I'll leave the boy's body now, go ahead and seal me."

Sakura nodded in agreement. "Release!" She shouted, summoning her staff. "But... can't you just turn back by yourself?" She asked with curiosity.

Syaoran was surprised by that question. "Don't you think I might try to trick you and escape?" He asked.

Sakura felt a little naive when the card asked that. Did she trust the card too easily? "I... didn't think about that..." She said with embarrassment.

Syaoran smiled warmheartedly. "Don't worry, you're still young. I wish I could trust people the way you do..." He said. "Too bad for both of us that we have to learn not to trust as we live."

Suddenly he let his body fall back on the bed.

Sakura, Kero and Wei watched relieved as the color crept back to Syaoran's face and his breathing returned to a normal pace. He was now sleeping peacefully, just resting.

"Look, there's the card!" Kero said.

On Syaoran's chest rested a Clow card, which hadn't been there up to that point. It had the words 'The Time' written on it and a picture of an old man in a large mantle holding an hourglass in his hands.

Sakura walked to the boy and picked up the card, careful not to disturb his sleep. "It's a moon card!" She proclaimed looking at the back of it. "With this one I've already got eleven cards, not counting the ones that Li-kun has." She said with excitement. "At this rate we'll get them all real quick."

Kero nodded. "From now on cards will probably start showing up more often, just like The Time, they'll need mana at some point."

"I'm glad that this ended well." Wei said. "I'll make sure to tell Syaoran-sama all about what happened when he wakes up."

"That oughta teach the brat a thing or two about bragging." Kero said laughing.

Sakura sweat dropped. "Kero-chan!" She said in a scolding tone.

Kero suddenly changed his expression like someone that has just remembered something. "I've just remembered something." He said. "Weren't you late for school Sakura?"

Sakura felt all the satisfaction for her accomplishment vanish.

"Hoeee!"

Touya was pedaling his way to school with Yukito beside him.

"What happened to Sakura-chan?" Yukito asked. "Did she oversleep again?"

Touya sighed. Never had he lied so much as in those past few repeated days. "No, she went ahead this time." He said. "I think she was on duty today." He said, repeating what Sakura had told him.

"Oh, that's unusual." Yukito said smiling. "Guess it will rain today." He joked.

Touya shook his head. "I'm sure it won't." He said. "Absolutely sure."

Syaoran's P.o.V.

I wrote the lasts words on the piece of paper on my desk and read it to see if I hadn't forgotten anything.

'Dear mother and sisters

I'm sorry to say that in the last week we have only caught two Clow cards. It would've been only one if I hadn't gotten another of those mysterious phone calls. It's the fourth time this has happened already, but this man doesn't leave any trace for us to follow! He only calls from public phones so it's hopeless to try and trace him. Kinomoto-san seems to be getting more powerful everyday. I don't know what Kerberos is doing to train her, but its showing results. Other than that not much has happened, my grades are good in school, except for Japanese language, but I'm getting better...'

"I guess that's pretty much it." I said. It hadn't changed much from the one I wrote all those todays ago.

I was about to put my signature on the card when I heard a knock on the door. Obviously Wei.

"What is it Wei-san?" I asked looking at the door.

"May I come in?" He asked.

"Sure." I said, getting up from my chair. He had probably brought me something to eat. Not that I wasn't hungry, but ever since I had woken up he had been worrying about me nonstop. Asking me if I was OK or telling me that I should rest a bit more.

The door opened. There was Wei. But not only Wei.

"You have a visitor Syaoran-sama." He announced a little too late. "I'll leave you two alone." He said walking away.

"Hey Li-kun, feeling better?" Sakura said cheerfully.

I tripped on my own foot as I was making my way around the desk. I found support on the desk and helped myself from falling down, but not from looking stupid. I looked at her and gave the most indifferent look I could.

"I'm better." I said. Making my way over to her I started to say what I hoped to be the start and the end of the conversation. "I owe you for today, thank you. But that still gives you no right to come to my home uninvited."

She was obviously displeased with my remark. I didn't feel good seeing her like this, but in the past few weeks, being near her had become to me the same as not feeling good at any time, and the worst part was not knowing if it was me who felt like that or if it was the spell taking effect. It would be best if she left before I started saying things or having ideas. But she persisted.

"I'm sorry for that, really!" She said, bowing. "But... I thought you might want today's homework, so I brought it to you." She showed me her notebook, just like she had a few todays ago.

Not only was I feeling uncomfortable, but I was feeling embarrassed too after that. She was just doing me a favor. "Oh... I guess its okay then." I said, not really paying attention to the words. "Thanks." I took the notebook from her hands. "But you should have called before coming anyway." I pointed out.

"I know. I'm sorry." She put her smile back on. I avoided it pretending I was looking at the notebook.

Then, that uncomfortable silence entered. The one where people start making small talk in to pretend it isn't happening.

"I still have to save your life a couple of times more for us to be even, this one barely counted since the card didn't really mean any harm. Isn't that so?" She said jokingly. It was true that I had saved her life in some occasions, but she didn't owe it to me. She owed it to the spell.

"Yeah." I said showing a half smile just so she would know I had understood her joke.

She kept talking. ºWhy won't she just go away?º I thought, trying as hard as I could to ignore that part of me that wanted her to stay. The charmed part I called it. The parasite sometimes.

"I don't know about you, but I felt really desperate when I thought that you might die." She said. Her voice suddenly taking an insecure tone. That had caught my attention more than anything she had said in the past couple of weeks. "I never saved anyone's life before. It's a really terrible feeling to have someone's life depending on you. It sure isn't as pretty as on TV."

ºWhy is she telling me this?º I thought. "Yeah..." I said. While near Sakura it was always best to be direct and simple. I avoided using too many words in the same sentence as much as I could. This helped me not to say anything stupid because of the spell.

She kept talking. "What I'm trying to say is..." She paused and thought of her next words. "Now that I understand how you felt when you saved me, I think I should thank you again. This time knowing exactly why I'm saying it." She bowed. "Thank you."

"I..." I couldn't find any words. That had been by far the weirdest experience I had ever had around her. Even counting the times when her life was in danger. Luckily, I didn't need to say anything.

"That's all I wanted to say." She said. "It was really bugging me. I'll be going now, so don't worry."

I merely nodded.

After Wei had taken her to the elevator I turned back to my letter. Now I had a new issue on my mind. Something that somehow I hadn't thought of in the whole month I had spent with that spell.

ºIs she affected by the spell too? Does she feel the same way I do when I'm in danger?º

Suddenly, I felt intimidated. I can't quite explain, but thinking that I might not be the only one acting unlike himself scared me somehow. I had to stop waiting for answers and start to do something about that spell.

I read the words on the piece of paper again.

'Dear mother and sisters

I'm sorry to say that in the last week we have only caught two Clow cards. It would've been only one if I hadn't gotten another of those mysterious phone calls. It's the fourth time this has happened already, but this man doesn't leave any trace for us to follow! He only calls from public phones so it's hopeless to try and trace him. Kinomoto-san seems to be getting more powerful everyday. I don't know what Kerberos is doing to train her, but its showing results. Other than that not much has happened, my grades are good in school, except for Japanese language, but I'm getting better...'

I added one last part.

'One more thing, I discovered a spell...

End of Syaoran's P.o.V.

The Tall and the short figure once again gathered together, this time on a ridiculously large living room with nothing but an armchair in the middle.

"If I didn't know better I would think that you put that spell on Sakura too." The tall one said suspiciously.

The short one chuckled from his spot on the armchair. "I know what you mean. How else would she be able to see through the card? And why would she feel so connected to the young boy?"

"Exactly!"

"I think you know the answer to the first question. You said it yourself. She's getting better with magic each day that passes." The short one said. "And the answer to the second proves that there isn't such a thing as a coincidence. Even thought we didn't want her to be the one to open the book at first, Sakura has proven that she really is the perfect person to inherit the cards and to fulfill our wish."

"And why is that?" The tall one asked.

"She's just a really nice person."

TO BE CONTINUED...

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A/N: Yay! (review!) I took me a whole (review!) week longer than usual, but I did it. And it's the biggest (Review!) chapter so far I think. The reason it took me so (Review!) long was because I was taking an Easter break. Anyway, do you think it turned out nice? Tell me about it while you (REVIEW!) review.

Oh, for those of you wondering, I do have a list of cards Sakura and Syaoran captured in the month I skipped. They are as follow (Including the ones featured in the story.):

The Freeze-- Moon - Sakura

The Windy -- Moon - Sakura

The Fly -- Moon - Sakura

The Rain -- Moon - Sakura

The Sword -- Moon - Sakura

The Time -- Moon - Sakura

The Storm -- Moon - Sakura

The Silent -- Moon - Syaoran

The Thunder -- Moon - Syaoran

The Big -- Sun - Sakura

The Little -- Sun - Sakura

The Wood -- Sun - Sakura

The Shadow -- Sun - Syaoran

The Shield -- Sun - Syaoran

The Twin -- Sun - Syaoran

That's it. See ya next week!

(review)